3 Reasons for Offline Retailers to take the eCommerce Route

A recent sale organized by Indian eCommerce giant Flipkart saw a record $100 million sales in a single day with 3,00,000 orders in the first six hours. Yes you heard it right! Just one day! These statistics send a message which is loud and clear and i.e. “If you haven’t yet migrated to the eCommerce world then it’s high time”. The eCommerce tide is set to change the dynamics of the retail sector and if you want to make the most of it then the eCommerce route will be the best move for your business.

3 Reasons to take your Physical Store Online

1. Customers are veering towards Online Stores

One of the foremost reasons to take the eCommerce leap is customer demand. The new age customer is slowly realizing the importance of the digital world. Customers have now realized the immense potential of the eCommerce world. Following are some of the reasons customers prefer online stores over physical stores.

Better Prices

24 hr Availability

Wider Variety

Convenience

Option to Compare Products

One Stop Shop

For you as a retailer it is important to know and understand these reasons as the customer is the one who plays a major role in driving your business. Once these reasons have been looked at objectively the importance of online stores becomes absolutely evident.

2. Online Stores are actually Offline too

I’m sure your first reaction after reading the heading is how are online stores offline? Well, let me break it down for you. The latest trend in the eCommerce world is same day delivery and express delivery. Online stores are now providing consumers with deliveries at lightening speed. How do you think online store owners are managing to do so? The speedy deliveries are all because they have a full fledged inventory of products that has been set up at the back end. These inventories are set up in every city with a complete army of employees working towards managing the inventory and timely deliveries. In essence the online stores are functioning as offline stores in the backend while remaining online stores. By doing so they are managing to capture an extremely large audience which will never be possible in the case of physical stores.

3. eCommerce is here to Stay

Starting from 2000, eCommerce sales as a percentage of retail sales has increased from 0.6% to 6.4% until April, 2014. With online stores services such as free delivery, same day delivery, 30 day replacement policy, festive discounts and flash sales this percentage is set to keep increasing. Furthermore, the eCommerce field has also seen an increased interest from corporate giants as potential investors. These trends only go to show that eCommerce will be growing exponentially with time. So, unless you have some other breakthrough idea eCommerce is here to stay.

More often than not offline retailers are convinced with the above reasoning. But the costs towards development and maintenance of an eCommerce website dissuade offline retailers. Another, point of contention for potential online retailers is the marketing of an eCommerce website. But these issues should not hold you back from taking your business online as the market is flooded with easy to use tools like WooCommerce, Magento, Google Analytics that can make the process of transition extremely effortless. So what are you waiting for? Kick start the transition to the eCommerce arena with our guide on eCommerce Website Development.